Seizing the throne, abolishing the adopted son, the imperial concubine rose to prominence

"This matter is meant to attract attention. It's best if everyone in the harem knows about it."

Gu Youning nodded calmly.

"Yes, the servant knows."

Tan Yin still didn't understand what her master meant. Her master had clearly reminded her to be careful with her words and actions early in the morning, but this time he wanted to spread the news of her mother's family entering the palace throughout the palace. It was really hard to understand, but since it was her master's order, she would do her best to carry it out.

Not long after Tan Yin left, Xiao Shengzi came back with a box in his hand, which contained a jade ruyi and two pairs of imperial concubine bracelets.

"My lord, this is the reward that the Queen has asked you to prepare for tomorrow."

"The Empress also said that she would ask the Clothing Bureau to send some more brocade cloth and new beads later."

Gu Youning looked at the two items. The green heads of the Ruyi and the imperial concubine bracelets were very thick. They were not ordinary items and were most likely the queen's private collection.

She did not feel flattered, but became more wary of Queen Cui.

No reward without merit. Giving away such a valuable thing must be for a big purpose.

"The Queen is truly a wonderful person."

Xiao Shengzi's identity was unknown, so Gu Youning pretended to be happy.

After the palace maids put the things away, Gu Youning glanced at Xiao Shengzi, who was standing below with his hands hanging down, and sighed in distress: "The Empress is kind, but the Imperial Concubine...ah..."

"The Imperial Concubine is the daughter of the Minister of the Central Secretariat and is favored by His Majesty. Naturally, she is a bit arrogant. However, the master has the eldest prince by her side. As long as she guards Changchun Palace, she can naturally live a peaceful life."

Xiao Shengzi smiled respectfully.

Gu Youning was a little confused.

Ordinary palace servants all hope that their masters will rise to prominence, especially those like Xiao Shengzi who came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to serve the imperial concubines. However, Xiao Shengzi's words seemed to suggest that he should be humble and live a simple life.

If this little Shengzi is a spy of Cheng'an Palace, and he is instigating me to be restless and cause trouble in the harem, then that would be the right thing to do. If not, then this is not the right reaction.

"As expected, he is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His words are very pertinent."

"It's better to stay away from the imperial concubine from now on."

Gu Youning muttered the last sentence to herself, but when she saw that Xiao Shengzi seemed relieved, her doubts grew even stronger, but she kept an unchanged expression and asked Xiao Shengzi a few more questions about the taboos in the palace.

Although Gu Youning had spent most of her life in the palace in her previous life, she spent most of her time in seclusion in Changchun Palace when Xiao Heng was in power. She was not familiar with the affairs of the palace. Now, after listening to Xiao Shengzi's stories, she learned a lot of new things.

Among the concubines in the palace, the Queen naturally ranked first in terms of status, but there were different opinions on her favor. Concubine Zheng and He Chongyuan were almost evenly matched, but Xiao Heng did not spend much time in the harem in a month, and stayed even less overnight.

Therefore, after entering the palace, many concubines had never even seen the emperor, including Lin Cainu.

Although the Empress and the Empress Dowager were aunt and niece, their relationship was very cold. However, the Empress Dowager's attitude towards Concubine Zheng could be described as disgust.

In this way, the two concubines favored by the emperor are not liked by the empress dowager, which is a good thing for Gu Youning.

She didn't like the one in Ci'an Palace either, but it was nice to be able to take advantage of him occasionally.

But what surprised her most was that it was the Queen who took the initiative to bring her back from the palace.

It seems that the Queen is not only dissatisfied with Concubine Zheng, but may also be satisfied with He Chongyuan, so she wants to bring this variable back from outside the palace.

"Master, the emperor is here."

Gu Youning was thinking when the little palace maid came in from outside with a panicked look on her face.

Just as she was about to ask a question, the corner of a bright yellow robe flashed into the inner hall.

It seems to be coming a little too fast.

Gu Youning pondered in his heart, but he stood up neatly and greeted the frosty emperor with a smile: "The emperor is here!"

"All go out."

The emperor didn't even look at her, but waved his hand to send everyone away.

Cao Zhong even closed the door.

"What happened? Did someone outside make the emperor angry again?"

Gu Youning raised his head and looked straight at the emperor's angry face, without any fear on his face, and a hint of doubt flashed in his bright eyes.

The emperor looked at someone who was completely unaware of anything, then suddenly lifted the corner of his robe and sat down at the top.

Gu Youning was about to sit down on the chair next to him as usual, but that look was so cold that she couldn't pretend not to see it, so she chose the farthest chair and sat down.

As soon as he sat down, a heavy cold snort came from above.

Gu Youning turned around with a puzzled look on her face: "Is the Emperor angry with me?"

After saying this, Gu Youning murmured subconsciously: "You were so happy when you left this morning..."

The emperor's face became darker, but the cold anger in his eyes was much less, and instead there was a bit of helplessness.

"You wanted to see your family, why didn't you mention it last night, and why didn't you mention it this morning?"

"Just like that...just told the Queen straight away."

The emperor paused, as if trying to suppress his anger.

"Isn't it the Empress who has the final say on matters concerning the harem?"

"And the palace maids all say that the Empress is a kind person. Even the Emperor has praised her personally."

Gu Youning seemed to blurt it out, looking as if she was close to the queen because of her trust in the emperor.

The emperor's face was darker in color, and if you looked closely, you could see some frustration in it.

"You listen to me so much? You didn't remember a single word I said yesterday."

The emperor sneered.

It seemed that Gu Youning only then realized that the emperor was really angry with him. He stood up from his chair nervously, but his face was still full of confusion, and he couldn't find the reason.

"Didn't the Emperor say yesterday that you were in charge of everything in the palace, and told me to relax..."

"Oh, and also give me some gold and silver to spend in the palace."

Gu Youning spoke in a low voice, but his eyes lit up when he mentioned gold and silver.

"you……"

Xiao Heng was so angry that he slammed the table, but he couldn't refute when he wanted to scold. The first sentence was indeed what he said, but as for the second sentence... He was so tired last night that he was drowsy and muttered this sentence.

In short, these two sentences are indeed correct.

"emperor……"

Gu Youning had already walked up to the emperor, gently tugging at his sleeve, his brows lowered, a look of sadness on his face.

"Have I caused you trouble?"

"But I asked before, and concubines of the third rank and above can summon their families. Since I went to the temporary palace, I haven't seen my aunt again..."

Before Gu Youning could finish her words, tears started to fall.

"Why are you crying? I didn't say anything."

Xiao Heng sighed, and the fire in his heart was mostly extinguished.

When a beautiful woman cries, her tears usually seem to fall but are about to fall, or she looks as sad and beautiful as a pear blossom in the rain. But this woman, every time she cries, her tears just fall like this.

However, this woman seldom cried. He had only seen her cry three or four times over the years. Twice she cried because she was thinking of her biological mother, and once she was assassinated and almost lost her life.

Thinking of this, Xiao Heng could no longer keep a cold face.